Chesapeake Vs New England

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Although the majority of colonial peoples in North America during the mid 1600s and early 1700s were of English descent the land occupied by colonists was split into two very different regions that housed two very different peoples; these regions were the Chesapeake and New England. Settlers from these regions contrasted heavily in regard to their social and economic ideals along with the geographic makeup of the region. The single wealth seekers of the Chesapeake region were extremely different from the families in New England who sought religious salvation while the overall geographical makeup of the both regions dictated many important aspects of each, causing significant cultural divide. One of the most prominent dividing factors of these…show more content…
We see in New England a fairly even make up regarding people’s wealth while in the Chesapeake there was a large gap between the rich and poor. This gap was created because the main source of significant profits was tobacco farming so only the very wealthy and beneficiaries of the headright system were able to generate income. Other people in the south were mostly slaves and indentured servants. Unfortunately, slavery was a necessity to the Southern Economy and without it the south most likely would not survive making it a slave society, in contrast to the north which was a society with slaves. In other words although the north had slaves it did not depend on them heavily. This southern rich and poor gap became so prominent and problematic that it eventually lead to Bacon’s rebellion. In this incident a revolt occurred where the poor rose up due to their lack of adequate land for farming and therefore their lack of wealth. They believed that the colonies gave too much “favor to whose hands the country’s dispention of the country’s wealth had committed” (Doc H). In other words the rebellion occurred because the poor felt the country’s economic systems favored the wealthy too heavily. The rich and poor gap in England however, was virtually nonexistent and the puritans did their best to prevent a rich and poor gap and keep a tight knit community. This can be seen in their…show more content…
The fertile soil of the Chesapeake allowed for the farming, in large quantities, of cash crops such as tobacco and rice. To maintain such vast amount of the crop slaves and servants became a prominent factor of the region. So many, that the Royal African Company gained so much power from sales to the region that a monopoly was created. In addition slaves and servants outnumbered actual land owners as is stated in the writings of Governor Berkley when he states that there are “as many servants (besides negroes) as there are freemen” (Doc G) which further solidifies the Chesapeake as a slave society rather than a society with slaves. The environment for farming in the north was extremely different as the climate did not allow for the production of cash crops let alone in such large quantities. Instead there was a sustenance farming a practice in which individuals grew food for survival rather than large financial gain. When looking back on early America we see how a country made up mostly of English colonists was separated by various social, economic, and geographical factors. Everything from slavery to the soil the colonists lived on played a part in the separation of one nation into two completely different
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